Herbert Henry Asquith
Herbert Henry Asquith, generally known as H.H. Asquith, was a Liberal politician, member of the Parliament, and prime minister of the United Kingdom.
Contents
History
Asquith was a London lawyer.
The Liberals were split by Gladstone's peoposals for Irish home rule. He called for snap elections in July 1886, and several MPs were deselected for their opposition. John Boyd Kinnear was one such deselected candidate, and Asquith received a last-minute nomination in his place. He narrowly won the seat and entered the Parliament.
The 1892 general election returned Gladstone to power and Asquith was immediately appointed to the cabinet. He remained a leading Liberal, and when the 1895 snap elections returned Gascoyne-Cecil to power, he emerged as a candidate for party leadership. He instead chose to focus on his private legal career.
He then served as chancellor under Campbell-Bannerman. When he resigned in April 1908, Asquith quickly succeeded him as PM.
His efforts toward reform bills were frustrated by the Lords, where the Unionist Liberal peers had by now effectively joined with the Conservatives. In late 1909, his omnibus budget was rejected by the Lords. He called snap elections for January 1910, seeking a refreshed mandate. The Liberals campaigned on reforming the upper house. Instead, he was reduced to a minority governent with supply and confidence from Irish nationalists and Labour.
The Lords finally relented on this budget, but the whole thing repeated less than a year later, over the first draft of the Parliament Act. This bill instituted multiple constitutional reforms, including:
- reducing the maximum term of a Parliament from 7 to 5 years
- eliminating the Lords' veto on budget bills
- enabling the Lords' veto on an ordinary bill to be overriden by three consecutive annual sessions of the Commons
The resulting December 1910 elections returned an essentially identical Parliament. Asquith now asked George to create new peers so as to eliminate the obstructionists' veto. George insisted that the Lords be given a further chance to reconsider after these plans were announced. The Conservatives now relented, and the bill passed in August 1911.
Asquith also established a salary for MPs in 1911.
When war broke out, Asquith led a united Liberal Party. His control rapidly disintegrated, as typified by the disastrous Gallipoli campaign. He then was forced to form a unity government with Law.
This coalition only dragged Asquith and the Liberals lower. A draft was established for all men between 18 and 65. The Easter Rising was brutally suppressed. The Liberals splintered, with Lloyd George seizing leadership of the National Liberals and the coalition government.
Asquith lost his seat in the December 1918 snap elections, only returning through a by-election in 1920. He remained party leader throughout this period. Through the November 1922 snap elections, the number of Labour MPs finally eclipsed the sum of all Liberal factions, and Asquith ceased to be leader of the opposition.
The Liberal factions only began to reconcile ahead of the December 1923 snap elections. Asquith and Lloyd George were still substantially opposed, but they were in agreement of supporting the Labour minority government of MacDonald.
Asquith lost his seat in the October 1924 snap elections. In January he was created earl of Oxford, and entered the Lords.
He resigned as party leader in 1926, ginally handing the role to Lloyd George.